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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Book Review: Divergent

It's a futuristic dystopian novel in which people as divided into factions based on a certain characteristic. For example, Abnegation is for people who are (or want to dedicate themselves to being) selfless; Dauntless is for the brave; Erudite is for those who value/desire knowledge; Candor is for those who believe that "honesty is the best policy." There are 5 factions in total (I can't remember the fifth) and once you're 16 you take an aptitude tests that tells you which faction you might be best suited for and you then get to choose which faction you want to be a part of. The intention behind the factions was based on the theory that war was caused by varying opinions on what could bring peace. This way you divide people up on their idea on what brings peace and all will be peaceful. That was the intention, at least .
The story follows Beatrice Prior (AKA Tris) who chooses to abandon the faction she was raised in, Abnegation, and join the Dauntless. Most of the story follows Tris throughout her grueling Dauntless initiation in which she must learn what it takes to be brave, at the same time Tris is also trying to figure out what it means to be brave. She makes friends and enemies throughout the process and also finds someone who is more than just a friend. This someone is Four, her instructor. During this time Tris discovers that she may be Divergent, though she doesn't quite know what this means. All the information that she gathers points to the fact that being Divergent is dangerous!